Charly the Chiswick Cat Found in Acton

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Happy owner reunited with pet by W3 and W4 Forums

A flurry of posts on the ChiswickW4.com and ActonW3.com forums reunited a cat owner and her ginger cat after Charly (who is 11) had been missing for almost two months.  

Winnifred Bastian, a cat painter who lives in Chiswick, moved from Holland in October last year. Her two cats moved with her and seemed to be settling in to their new home very well.  

Then On April 27th, Charly disappeared in the evening. Winnifred told me: "He often disappeared in Holland but always came back after two or three days. We really thought Charly would come back, but he didn't."  

After weeks of searching for Charly, Winnifred was alerted to a found cat, but it was a false alarm. Silvia Diaz posted on the W4 Forum in late May after a flyer was posted through her letterbox.

Marlene Plimley noticed the post and then spotted a post on the ActonW3.com forum from Steven Kealey on Wednesday this week after a ginger cat he hadn't noticed before started spending lots of time near his house.  

Steven noticed that the ginger cat was "really friendly, super-hungry and very thin". He saw Charly in Leythe Road and Newton Avenue in Acton.   

Marlene alerted Winnifred who went to Newton Avenue. She told me: "I was looking around for Charly, and then suddenly I saw him under a car. I called him. He came out and it was fantastic to see him. He looked thin and dirty, but otherwise seems to be well. I am taking him to the vet to be checked over."  

Charly seems very happy to be home and expressed his delight with much loud purring - presumably to thank the W3 and W4 forum users who tracked him down.  

June 21, 2007